McKay's Dark Zone
by kris mcsherry
Summary: After a hijack and crash-landing, Sheppard fights to save an injured McKay from hostile nanobots and their human host before he succumbs to their torture.
1. Default Chapter

McKay's Dark Zone

Chapter One: Hijacked

-1-

"You, hot shot," Gage said, holding a pistol to McKay's head. "Don't give me away, I got nothing to lose. Shut the hatch." He shoved the gun firmly, handed Sheppard a crumpled note. "Go here."

From the Jumper's console, Sheppard activated the hatch and reached back for the note, glancing at McKay. Gage held his arm, poked the gun behind his ear. He read it, entered the coordinates and hailed the control room, telling them he wanted an unscheduled test run. The technician asked him to hold for confirmation.

The delay angered Gage and he ordered Sheppard to keep away from the con while they waited. "Give me your transmitters," he said. "Both of you." Sheppard handed it over.

McKay stalled, hoping someone would sound the alarm. "You won't need them," he said. "We're not getting two meters out without-"

"Now!" Gage said, rapping the barrel on the side of his head.

He was stunned, a shrill ring bursting into his ear. Sheppard told him to cooperate and he removed the device from his wrist and surrendered it.

"Down there, face first." Gage motioned to the floor.

McKay covered his ear. "I'm perfectly able to stand."

Gage's grip tightened on his arm. He nudged the gun. "On the floor."

"Rodney," Sheppard said. "He means business."

"I guess this confirms your guilt?" McKay asked. He received a jab between the shoulder blades and he turned toward Gage, exhaling like an angry bull. "Quit that, I'm going," he said, lying down. The ringing persisted.

"Rodney..." Sheppard raised his voice, ready to warn him again when the gate tech replied-they were good to go. Under Gage's caution, he activated the console and the Jumper dropped into the floor. In seconds, it disappeared through the gate. On the other side, they emerged from an orbiting space gate over a planet dotted with islands.

"I ought to hang you." Gage planted a foot on McKay's neck. "You sure were eager to see me on a rope."

"We hadn't decided anything." Sheppard guided the Jumper into the planet's mesosphere. "Our inquiry wasn't over. If you'd waited-"

"So you could banish me to some shitty planet? Lock me in a little room? I don't think so. Somebody else killed Jaden. I was asleep."

"We're not interested in fiction," said McKay, pressed against the floor. He felt a kick in his hip and stretched back, trying to block a second stab from Gage's boot.

Gage stomped his fingers. "I've always hated you, McKay. You're a conceited S.O.B, know that? People are such cattle. They clam up, let you push them around. I'm your new boss. Order me around, go ahead."

He jerked his hand out from under the boot. "You'll never survive, on any planet. I'll bet you've never even seen combat."

"Quiet," Gage shouted, adding another kick. "What does it take to get you to shut it?"

Sheppard rocked the Jumper. "Stop this, we're almost there. Leave him alone."

"I will if he does," McKay said. He protected his hand, tucked it near his body. "They've caught on to you, it won't take them very long."

"Nah, it'll be awhile." Gage read off a notation written on his wrist, the designation for a second planet. "Back to the space gate, we're taking a detour."

Sheppard said, "I thought you wanted this planet."

"Too easy to trace."

"This Jumper doesn't have enough fuel to be wandering all over the galaxy."

"Nice try, hot shot." Gage ground his foot into McKay and he made a muffled noise. "Enter the coordinates and take us outta' here."

Sheppard wouldn't move. The gun clicked. He brought up the VR display, swung the Jumper around, and returned to the orbiting gate and out another one, flying over a second planet. Two continents faced them, the larger as wide as Australia, north of the equator. 

"When can we land?" Gage asked, eyeing the landmass.

"When we get to it," Sheppard said. "Find a suitable spot."

McKay had a cramp in his neck. "Let me up."

"What?" Gage grinned. "I can't hear you."

"Let him up," Sheppard said. "We're all-clear now. No one's going to catch up."

He removed his foot and McKay twisted to his side and eased up. The ringing had faded to a faint whistle. He leaned back, glared at Gage from the bench. He was a man infamous for his temper tantrums and poor impulse control. An investigation had uncovered his addiction to the drug Alpharine 11, known to induce erratic behavior. He'd stolen from Dr. Beckett's medbay, but when it ran out he'd failed to show up for duty, been accused of insubordination, all minor problems next to murder.

"How much supplies we got?" Gage said. "Check it, Rodney."

"Dr. McKay."

Getting up, Gage swiped him across the mouth. "Rod-nee," he said, switching to the co-pilots's seat. He trained the sidearm on Sheppard. "And step on it."

"He doesn't need to," Sheppard said. "We don't even have enough for a day. Nothing was restocked after the last mission."

"Another nice try, hot shot."

McKay wiped his lip, felt it tenderly, and insisted it was true. Gage allowed him to open two storage units. They were empty.

"Damn it," Gage said. "Just my luck. But this planet's got what I need, from the specs."

McKay asked Sheppard to reread the planet's designation. He recognized the numbers. "You're an idiot, Gage," he said. "Can't you read? You not only hijacked the wrong Jumper but did you take a good look at the fine print? This planet has an exceptional little quirk. Its UV levels are highly elevated. And guess what? Skin cancer's deadly. You'd have a significantly limited time before the effects of-"

Before he could finish, Gage sprung up, clipped him on the head with the gun's grip. The impact shocked him but he collected his nerve, leaped at the chance. He grabbed Gage's wrist with both hands, the gun millimeters from his eyes. As the Jumper soared into a batch of clouds, Sheppard rushed in to help. A sharp bump knocked the forward portside and it jerked to the right. Gage was thrown against McKay and they tumbled to the bench, grappling for the weapon. Over their heads, ribbons of electrical energy bolted through the bulkhead, crackling through to the rear. Sheppard hurried back to the pilot's seat, brought up the VR readout. They were losing altitude, caught in an angled dive. McKay let go. Gage claimed the weapon.

"I'm losing it," Sheppard said. "Hang on."

-2-

Sheppard fought to level the Jumper. In an instant, he selected a patch of grass and sped toward it. The terrain scrolled by in a blur, and they cut through low brush before hitting with a thud. The Jumper rolled to its side, slid into a spin and slammed against a hillside. Sparks snapped from the console and a small fire darted out from the corner. McKay found himself sprawled on the bulkhead wall beneath the shelf, dazed. He forced himself up and sorted through the mess, seized the extinguisher and snuffed out the fire. He checked on Sheppard, knew it would be dangerous to move him. Gage lay in a heap across from him.

Outside, he glimpsed a curtain of sparkling golden lights in the sky, moving toward them. He tried the hatch, using the console control. It made a squeaking noise, cracked open a centimeter, stuck. The Jumper shook. He thought it was settling into the soil around them but it listed, tilted upwards. Dirt began to cover the windshield and the sound of clomping sod and stone echoed throughout the cabin.

McKay tried the control again. In one stomach-tossing swoop, the Jumper plummeted into the ground and he lost balance, hung on, dropping to secure Sheppard in a neck hold. The sky disappeared and Gage's body tumbled to the other side. They would be buried alive. He felt the vehicle slide in several huge increments, stopping for seconds in between. Each time he thought it would be the last. Another swoop and it bumped abruptly. The emergency lights activated. He waited for the next plunge, nothing. Through the crack in the hatch, a fleeting light whisked by, back and forth.

"Sorry," he said, releasing Sheppard. He went to manual control, opened the hatch enough to allow them to exit.

McKay peeked out the back. A luminescent fog hung over them, lighting the area. He stepped out of the Jumper and into a cavern, saw that they were perched at the edge of an underground ravine. They'd need to get out quickly. Going back in, he dragged Sheppard, shuffling backwards through the hatch. He sat him on the bumpy ground. "You okay?" he said. The fog hovered overhead.

The major stared at his hand, red across the palm. "I, I don't know."

"Gage," McKay said, mindful of the fog. He went to the hatch but before he could enter the shaking resumed and shards of rock and gravel rained down. Under his feet, the ground began to give way and he ran back, watched the Jumper nosedive, dirt and rock pouring into the hatch. It skidded into the ravine, taking Gage with it.

Returning to Sheppard, he got him up, bearing his weight, and saw that the fog had moved, pausing at a passageway. They hurried toward the fog's light and into the passage, dodging falling stones, stumbling. After several meters, McKay propped the major along the wall and covered him until the tremors subsided. He had just begun to relax when an aftershock followed, as unsettling as its predecessors.

Rocks pounded McKay's shoulders. "We can't stay here," he said, stifling a cough. "We'll be crushed." He checked Sheppard's pulse and realized that the fog still lingered over them. They proceeded down the passage, navigating over uneven ground. Looking up, he saw that they'd entered a chamber and lowered Sheppard to the smooth floor. He sat beside him and leaned against the wall. Where his body touched, the wall shimmered, collecting at the point of contact like electrical arcs in plasma lamps.

He drew his hand over it. It tickled. "Curious reaction," he said, unable to postpone his enthusiasm. "See this?" The major was disoriented, his lids cracked open. "Sheppard?" Blood had collected in his hair. "Can you hear me?" He took out his handkerchief, applied pressure until it slowed. The crash had been harsh. McKay's ribs were sore; he had a broad scrape torn through his sleeve, a gash on the forehead. And the red frosting on the cake: a cut on his cheekbone from Gage.

He'd risen to explore the room when the ceiling outside the opening gave way. Boulders dislodged until it was plugged with soil and debris, but the chamber appeared safe. Dust flew in, dispersing high into the vaulted ceiling. They'd have to dig their way out, or ferret out another way. And there was the air problem, the water and food problems. One problem at a time.

This was Gage's fault, too bad he wasn't here to enjoy it. Up until he'd taken them hostage, the day had been going normally. They'd been working in the Jumper, enhancing adjustments to the range of the drones, timing their effectiveness on the simulation. Gage, a prime suspect in the first murder on Atlantis, had barged in threatening to kill them both. A chemist, Dr. George Jaden, had been found at the bottom of a stairwell. He and Gage had been seen arguing the night before, McKay the primary witness.

The truth had yet to come out, and the board of inquiry, headed by Weir, manned by Sheppard, Beckett, and Teyla, had not concluded its investigation. Gage must have known they were getting close to something, prompting him to hijack the Jumper. The ATA gene had never taken with him and he'd needed Sheppard as a pilot, McKay the tool of persuasion.

He walked around the room, seeking a way out. It was interesting, albeit hollow and sterile, except for the luminescent fog, which seemed to be spying on him. He nicknamed it Lumi-fog. and observed how it pulsated, cast in a violet tint, its shape alternating from second to second, humming at a low-level, like radio static on a cold night.

"This isn't the Jumper," Sheppard said. He put a hand to his temple, sneezed from the dust. "I'm dizzy."

"Lay still." McKay went to him. "I'm not sure where we are, somewhere under the surface." The three walls above them met at a vertex, support beams at each of the three corners where the ceiling sloped. "There was an earthquake, we dove through."

"This is no cave."

"No. It's shaped like a tetrahedron, actually." McKay used flattened hands to simulate triangles, counting one, two, three, four. "Equilateral. How're you doing?"

"My knee."

"It's torn up. You won't be able to walk," McKay said. "What hit us?"

"No telling. I didn't see, I was preoccupied. Lightning, power surge?"

"Some kind of charge. Gage was in my face but it passed right through me. A prickly sensation. Must've shorted out the system."

Sheppard motioned toward the walls. "We have light?"

"Yes. I don't know what's powering it. Varies throughout the structure," McKay said. "And there's my friend, the Lumi-fog." He waved upwards.

"Lumi?"

"For short," he said, examining the major's skull.

"Yeah, got it. Rhymes with loony," Sheppard said. "Gage?"

"He didn't make it. When the Jumper sank, the hatch was open. I got you out in time, Gage was buried. I couldn't get to him. Supplies went too."

"That's terrible, even for him."

McKay smoothed his lip. "I'll cry later."

"Was I out very long?"

"Over half an hour. I've been looking for an exit."

Sheppard pushed himself up against the wall, stretched around to see it shining. "What's this? It tickles."

"I know. It responds to touch. I would say it's either a bioluminescent organism, or decorator lighting for whoever constructed this place."

"What the devil made Gage choose this planet?"

"It was logged in as habitable. Must've been in a rush," McKay said. "Half our information is in Ancient."

Sheppard stared past McKay. "They're sneaking into the perimeter," he said. "Your friends want to chat."

McKay turned. The Lumi-fog had descended and halted about two meters above their heads. "All's well, what's this?" He stood and spread out his arms. "We won't harm you." The fog coasted in, a meter out, and he stepped back.

"What do we do?" asked Sheppard.

"I'll entertain suggestions."

The fog swept in, circling McKay's head, their humming distinct, prickly. His legs went to jelly and he ended up sitting on the floor. Sheppard recoiled, tried to shoo it off like a spray of gnats. It didn't work. Instead, it divided into four streams and disappeared, flying into McKay's mouth, ears and nose. His eyes rolled up, a halo of light forming where his head hit the wall. He moaned, tilting sideways.

Sheppard caught him, taking a pulse at his neck. "McKay?" His pupils had lost their focus, miniscule dots of violet flicking in and out. "Get out of there," he said, shouting as if he could scare the fog out. He told him to hang on, that everything would be all right. Then, as expertly as the fog had entered, it streamed out and reformed in the air, flitting off to its corner, hovering.

Sheppard waited five minutes, ten. "Come on, wake up," he said, setting him down, careful of the hard floor. It was weird to close his eyelids, disturbing to get no response, his heart beating lazily. Exhausted, he warily monitored the fog until he fell asleep, flat on the barren tiles. 


	2. Facsimile

Chapter Two: Facsimile 

-1-

McKay leaned near. "Major?"

Sheppard woke up. Rodney's face was like the full moon.

"You all right?"

"Me?...you?"

"Of course not," McKay said. "I'm a wreck. The crash transformed us into projectiles with no means of egress. Dampeners were probably damaged."

Sheppard sat, expelled a long groan. He searched the room. "But the fog, it invaded you."

McKay seemed puzzled. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Let me see your eyes," he ordered, and McKay came close so that he could check. "Sort of clear," he said, holding his head. "A little flicker here and there."

McKay drew back. "I found a door while you were asleep. We're going to need water, fast."

"I feel like crap," Sheppard said. "Especially since you practically die and don't know it." While they'd slept, and although he'd had his own discomfort to deal with, Sheppard had awakened frequently to make sure McKay was all right. Rodney was now behaving as if it had all been a dream. But it wasn't.

"Over here." McKay was at the far end of the chamber. "Right, help," he said, and went to get him. Together they examined the doorway, sealed tight, with a distinct triangular outline. "I've been tapping the walls. There's got to be a button or a panel or something."

Sheppard teetered with his weight on one leg and a hand on McKay. "Maybe it's not a button, maybe it's a noise or a touch, like the ATA."

"Maybe this, maybe that. We're getting nowhere." Rodney ran a thumb over the door. "Or light? Everything else in here appears naturally tuned to it."

"I have a feeling your fog friend could tell us. It zapped you like it knew what it wanted." Sheppard slumped down next to the door. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine." McKay attempted to stick a stubby fingernail into the joint. "I will figure this out." He arched his arm grandly. "Open Sesame," he said, then joined Sheppard, ripping the pant leg to expose the major's knee. "If only we had the first aid kit."

"If this, if that." Sheppard looked up. The fog had returned. "How'd you get in here?"

"Hello," McKay said.

Sheppard wondered why the Lumi-fog hung around. "Try talking to it."

"You first."

"It's your nose they explored."

"So say you." McKay cautiously approached the fog. As he did, it swerved to the right like candle smoke in a draft and trained itself on Sheppard. Expanding, it whisked around and encased the major from crown to foot.

Sheppard stiffened; the fog had imprisoned him. "Talk to it," he said.

"Can you breathe?" Rodney asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," he said. This tale was one to write home about. "Everything's purple. What's it doing?"

"I have no idea." McKay reached in. It felt like hundreds of pin-tips. "Does it hurt?"

Sheppard squinted. "No." In intermittent flickers, the fog's light shown bright as a strobe. "I hear humming."

"Maybe that's its language."

"Gibberish."

McKay removed his hand. "Can you move?"

Sheppard tried; he was paralyzed.

"Seems to be..." McKay said and with that, the fog released Sheppard and flew away. It passed through the wall, leaving an accumulation of glittering light on the surface.

Sheppard bent his limbs, excluding his knee. "Definitely intelligent."

McKay agreed. "More than the sum of their parts." He inspected the wall where the fog had passed. "Hold the presses, this opens up. Ingenious."

-2-

While Sheppard rested, McKay estimated a day had passed. Or two. Hard to tell. The major had developed a fever, was feeling sick. The Lumi-fog hadn't visited and McKay had given up on the blocked entryway, jammed with boulders that fell in three at a time for every one he removed, rolling into the room until he had a pile larger than the one he'd started with. All it did was sap his energy when Sheppard needed him. He couldn't do much to improve their situation. Certainly, in time, they would be tracked and rescued.

The door was locked. There was nothing on it, nothing to press, to turn or slip a key into except the image of a tiny triangle in the center. He'd shouted at it, sung, made inane noises, recited a few fractured phrases from other languages, rapped it, pushed and picked at it, finally kicked and cursed it.

At least they had light. In fact, they basked in it. The walls aglow, almost multi-dimensional. When he got bored, he traced his finger over it, playing with the shimmer, following it as it followed him. They had a constant, comfortable temperature, sufficient if stale air. Here they would wither a long time and watch each other die slowly of dehydration and infection.

He checked Sheppard, doing poorly as expected, and gave up on logic, decided to plead with their mysterious companion.

"Are you there?" he asked, turning circles in the middle of the room, anticipating that it might come through any wall. He stomped on the floor, thinking better of it when Sheppard stirred and moved, sensing pain it seemed. "I said, are you there because if you are why don't you come out?" He kept turning. "At least open that door."

He stopped, scrutinized the radiant walls. "We could use some help here." This is a waste of time, thought McKay; good I've got plenty. "Listen, I don't know what or who you are but I'm sure we can meet on common ground. I'm Dr. McKay. Call me Rodney. This is Major Sheppard over there. He's not up to conversation but he's a decent guy although he is somewhat unfocused at times. Distracted. He's American. I'm from Canada...that's north. I had a little place on...never mind. I know all that doesn't mean anything to you but...we're from Atlantis...that wouldn't mean anything either. I suppose there's no use mentioning Earth. What I want to say is both of us are going to die, cease to exist, if we don't get food and water soon."

He scanned the room, listened, and waited a reasonable amount of time. When he got tired of standing, he returned to Sheppard, made sure he was breathing normally. Eventually, he dozed off, enclosed by three silent walls, a floor as hospitable as cold kitchen tiles, and an ominous sense of futility.

-3-

"Oh my God," Sheppard said, lifting his shoulders. "It's me."

McKay sat up. "What, what is it? It's all right, calm down, calm down." Sheppard pointed at an apparition standing boldly in the center. "Oh my God," McKay said. "It is you."

Sheppard slapped his forehead. "I've lost my mind. The fever's too high."

"Ditto," said McKay. "It heard me."

"Why is it me?"

"It's not really you, more an approximation," McKay said. The figure sparkled, fuzzy around the edges, as if Sheppard's image were projected on to a textured wall.

"You requested it be me?" asked Sheppard.

"Of course not. I asked for help." McKay met with it, feeling a tad ridiculous. "Hello."

"Hello," it repeated. "We are welcoming."

"We? There's more than one of you?"

"Billions."

Sheppard said, "Ask a few hundred to open the door."

"Shhhh...You'll scare them off." McKay circled the figure. "You know our language."

Its Sheppard-lips moved, occasionally out of sync. "We accessed it, inscribed in your left frontal lobe, where a body of knowledge resides, including this method of communication."

"When you went into my nose."

"I told you," Sheppard said. "Don't waste time. The door."

"We have assumed this form," it said, "so that we may speak as equals. We can not open the door. You will be consumed by our enemy."

"Who's this enemy?" asked Sheppard.

"They attempted to overpower you when your vehicle fell to the surface. The quake consumed you before they could do so."

"Of course, the golden curtain. They were headed for us." McKay casually walked to the left. Its gaze followed him like a portrait. "You were there, too, weren't you?"

"Yes. We secured the gap," it said, "after you plunged in. Our enemy is similar to us, but exist by the power of the solar star."

"How do you exist?" McKay said.

"By an underground source. There is no correlation in your language. The enemy above seeks to destroy us to gain strength and domain, to multiply and colonize. Long ago, the Architect fashioned us to build this complex. When some discovered their usefulness had expired, they usurped the Architect and fled. Once upon the surface, they were exposed to higher levels of radiation. The resulting mutagenesis has damaged them."

McKay noticed it hadn't replicated Sheppard's injuries. "You're inorganic?"

It brightened, its shape wavering. "Yes."

McKay spoke to Sheppard. "Nanites. It's a nanite utility fog. Designed to build, tear down."

Sheppard said, "Get in your brain?"

"And replicate you. Fascinating." McKay continued: "We're organic beings, we need food and, specifically, water. Can you remove the debris from the opening?"

"We recently discovered this emergency."

McKay said, "When you surveyed my brain."

"We will attempt." With that, it dissipated and regrouped as the fog, engulfing the boulders. They shifted and shook, but what had happened to McKay happened to them: the rocks began to tumble in.

"There are too few of us present to clear the entire passageway," it said, reforming as Sheppard. "The obstruction extends for many meters. We can provide the H2O."

Leaving, it slid through the spaces between the boulders, returning in minutes. It split in two, one large cloud and one small, the smaller forming into a bowl that floated four meters high, the larger floating over it. The bowl resembled a coruscating gel.

McKay cupped his hands beneath the bowl. It was almost weightless and felt as if it might dribble right through his skin. The larger cloud began to glisten and the water flowed, dripping into the bowl. When it was full, McKay gave Sheppard a drink, taking the leftover for himself. When done, the bowl vanished into a cloud, rejoined the larger one and withdrew.

"That's the weirdest thing," Sheppard said, lying back. He was pale, with bruises under his eyes, his knee swollen twice its usual size. "They'll never believe it. What're you staring at?"

McKay studied the place where the Lumi-fog had exited. "These walls," he said, running his hand over it, "are made up of nanites, or a portion of it is. The fog gets through because they provide a way for it. Who would've thought?"

Sheppard let out a sigh. "The Architect."

-4-

With the hem of his shirt, McKay patted Sheppard's forehead. "How can I make them understand?"

Sheppard raised his hand to answer, dropped it back.

"I wonder if we have anything they want."

"That could backfire." Sheppard slurred his words.

McKay wished they'd salvaged a blanket, something to make the major comfortable. "Mind if they pick your brains?"

He rubbed his neck, folded in his good leg.

"Your military know-how," McKay said, speaking faster. "Strategy, tactics, logistics. From my conversations with it...them...I gather their primary defense consists of run and hide, like mice from a hawk. The surface nanobots have the place to themselves up there. The Lumi-fog doesn't retaliate. If they had your knowledge, maybe they could use it to get us out."

Sheppard said, "Teach them to kill."

"To save our lives."

"Long shot."

"Calculated risk." McKay said. "It wouldn't hurt. You won't feel anything. I didn't, except the initial entry-"

"You said you didn't remember."

"It's coming back to me." McKay had a solid vision of violet fireworks spraying over him.

"Crazy," Sheppard said. "I can hold off a little longer."

"If you could see yourself like I do, you wouldn't say that. Let's face it, major, the Lumi-fog is obviously our best bet. If it's going to keep coming back, we may as well put it to good use. Otherwise, it may as well stay away, because I don't particularly care to build up..."

While Rodney chattered on, Sheppard considered it. The skin over his knee seemed ready to burst. He had a headache, his vision was blurry and McKay's talking was as irritating as 100 wool in hundred-degree heat. They were speeding towards the finish line, and if they didn't get out soon, he would be the unlucky winner. He reached up, set two fingers on McKay's mouth. "Invite them over," he said. "And don't forget the good china."

-5-

McKay summoned them, but the Lumi-fog maintained its own schedule. Hours later it appeared, in the likeness of Sheppard, improved but for the misty hair. McKay explained his plan, and they indulged him.

Sheppard remained prone, inert, while the fog dispersed and wavered over his head, swooped down and divided, slithering into his facial orifices. His eyes rolled up, back slightly arched. McKay was distressed. If this is what he'd looked like during the transfer, it was obvious why Sheppard believed he'd been near death.

He staged a tense watch, worried something could go wrong. He supposed that it could cause a stroke, brain damage, or a seizure. Dr. Beckett would never have allowed this to take place. Carson was so cautious at times that McKay wondered how he ever made it through medical school. Surviving life meant the element of risk, a breaking of the rules. You couldn't always go by the book. You had to be flexible, especially off-Earth.

Sheppard was waxen, and though his eyes were restored to normal, they were void of his spirit, violet lights twinkling behind the cornea. His body was rigid, palms against the floor, fingers splayed. He spoke.

It startled McKay. The voice was raspy, whispered. "I can't hear you," McKay said, listening.

A puff of violet popped from Sheppard's mouth. His lips parted stiffly. "Do you prefer him mended?"

"Major?"

"We speak," the fog said. "His leg can be restored."

"You can do that?"

"The damage to the skull."

"I don't know," McKay said. He didn't feel right about deciding for Sheppard. "We should ask."

"McKay." Sheppard turned toward him and the freckled lights glided across his irises, distinct and thriving. "Let them."

It sounded like John-unique, a spirit all his own. "We may be here a long time." McKay touched Sheppard's forehead. He was burning. "Go ahead," he told the fog. "Do it."

Sheppard's eyes shut and the Lumi-fog dove into the task. Like the Wraith, if McKay hadn't seen it, he wouldn't have believed it. The region around Sheppard's head injury began to gleam, hair swirling as though a breeze were blowing past. Simultaneously, they worked on his knee, rebuilding the tissue by increments, until scar tissue extended over the kneecap, the swelling reduced. McKay peeked at the process, lifting Sheppard's injured hand.

After a time, the violet light faded and the fog emerged, momentarily in human form. "We go," it said, and glided off.

McKay released the hand; the cut had been sutured. Sheppard breathed regularly, brows less constricted. What could the Lumi-fog learn from one man's, well, two men's, minds? No matter, it'd been worth a try. If he didn't remember what had happened to him, Sheppard would have a pleasant surprise: He'd be able to walk.


	3. Resurrection

Chapter Three: Resurrection 

-1-

The door retracted and McKay was unnerved by its swish. Because somewhere between awareness and sleep, he had believed he was home, safe in Atlantis.

Lumi-fog entered, adopting the Sheppard form, grown cleaner, less fuzzy. "Mission accomplished," it said. "Our enemy has been misdirected."

"You've defeated the enemy?" McKay said.

"A small portion, in this section, yes." It stepped forward and overshadowed its namesake. "The organism Sheppard is not operational."

"I know, he's starting to worry me." McKay nudged Sheppard. His head was cool and he seemed tranquil. "You all right?"

Sheppard flinched, stared up at himself. "I'll never get used to that," he said. The color had been restored to his skin. "Fill me in."

"They've opened the door." McKay steadied John, sitting him up, and offered a hand to get him to his feet. The Lumi-fog copied, also offering a hand, though far from real flesh. "Don't be afraid, major," said Rodney. Lumi had earned his trust.

Sheppard hesitated, took Rodney's hand and accepted the fog's as well. He flexed his knee. "Son of a gun," he said. "It's working, it's good. My palm's not bleeding."

"Your head too. They repaired you."

"You're kidding." He touched his hair. "Just a bump. Beckett's out of a job."

Lumi-fog released Sheppard's hand. "How's it feel?" McKay asked.

"Like a light socket. It's got a confident grip."

"The organism Gage is also repaired," said the fog.

McKay shook his head. "What? No, impossible. He couldn't have survived."

"Unfortunately, this Gage has joined with the surface forces. He seeks to eradicate us."

"I wish you hadn't done that," Sheppard went to the door. "We need to get to the Jumper and outta' here. You have weapons?"

Lumi-fog's faux eyes scowled. "We have not."

McKay peeked through the doorway. "How 'bout sticks and stones?"

-2-

On the other side of the door, a long tunnel stretched to meet another in a perpendicular formation. Their initial goal was to take a stable route to the Jumper, retrieve weapons and hail Atlantis. Ultimately dig it out, if possible, and get home. Led by the Lumi-fog in its original shape, they traveled through the cave system, a clever combination of natural and constructed tunnels, illuminated by the nanolight wherever one touched, wee lamps in what would otherwise be a dark zone. Through one hall, they discovered what appeared to be the ghostly material remains of the master architect's living quarters, caved in at one corner. From the desiccated old foodstuffs, table, chairs, and a fiber mat on a built-in platform, they guessed he had been humanoid.

The ceiling was low in regions and they scrunched to pass. Lumi-fog warned them that rising to the surface meant confronting the enemy who, if it served them, could rapidly possess their bodies as they had Gage. McKay asked how Gage had fallen into the control of the hostile nanobots. They explained (morphed into a further improved version of Sheppard), that they had repaired him, believing that this was what ought to be done. Their adversaries, who never ceased to give up on seeking an underground entrance, had burrowed their way through a maze of debris, down a shaft from the surface. The Lumi-fog had abandoned Gage to save themselves. It had been the hostile 'bots that had wrecked the Jumper, targeting it as an intruder, masked within the clouds.

Sheppard asked, "Where is he now?"

"He ascended to the surface," Lumi-fog said. "Through a daylight hole which we have re-secured."

"I hope it holds." McKay jumped over a fissure. The complex was a maze of ramps and stairs which observed a general pattern of chamber, tunnel and artificial hallway.

After an extended hike on ascending levels, they approached the ravine through a rockbound passageway and strolled along it for an unobstructed view, noting that it varied in depth from five to eight meters. Below, the rear of the Jumper was visible, the hatch ajar, full of debris, a snaking hole and trail evident where the resurrected Gage had escaped.

"Can you extract it?" McKay asked Lumi, fishing for a solution. "Are there enough of you?"

"The majority of us are preoccupied with construction."

"What're you building?"

"That which needs to be built," it said.

Sheppard asked Rodney: "They build to build?"

McKay flicked shards out from under his boot. "Might explain why this place is so rickety."

From up the ravine, they heard a humming and Lumi-fog, their ubiquitous guide and rescuer, plainly said: "We all must go," and promptly disbanded and departed, disappearing the way they'd come.

"Hey," McKay said. "What's got into them?"

The frenzied hum grew louder, amplified within the cavern. It was coming closer. Sheppard turned to McKay: "We'd better get out of here."

Running, they reached the passageway entrance. Just inside, shots went off, echoing throughout the space. McKay dove for cover while Sheppard hurried in after him, both concealed behind an outcrop. Sheppard scanned the cavern as more rounds ensued. Across the ravine, Gage came into his line of view, appearing fitter than ever. He fired recklessly, a swarm of golden nanobots swirling about him, and emptied his sidearm. Pieces of the cavern roof crumbled, clattered down on the Jumper. Discarding the weapon, he began the descent into the ravine, nanobots surging into his body.

McKay felt his side. "Oh boy."

"Great, he's armed." Sheppard kept out of sight. "How did he manage to dig anything out?"

Blood seeped on to McKay's hands and wrists. "I'm hit," he said.

Spinning round, Sheppard knelt, laying his hands over McKay's. "Damn him. We can fix this, they can do it," he said, cringing. "I'm sure they can." He looked into McKay's eyes, touched his back. The bullet had gone through, out the front.

McKay took a broken breath. "I don't know if I can..."

"You won't need to run, too far to go back," Sheppard said. "No time. I'll intercept Gage. You will be all right."

"Careful." McKay settled into the corner between the cave wall and the outcropping. "I think," he whispered. "Time crunch here."

Sheppard acknowledged and watched Gage near the bottom of the ravine. He was unexpectedly agile and swift. "Don't move."

McKay got a chill. "I have a choice?"

"Lumi," Sheppard said, wiping blood on his shirt. "Get your ass back here. I'll owe you. Bigtime." He sneaked back to the ravine, crawling at the edge on his belly, and watched Gage begin his climb up the other side. "Sticks and stones," he said, picking up the largest rock he could carry. He held it high, aimed for Gage's head.

The rock hit its mark on the shoulder and Gage reacted as if it were a pebble, halting briefly before climbing on. Sheppard picked up another one, lugged it over his head. The ground trembled and he tipped backwards, lost it. Beneath him, the ledge cracked, separated and broke away. He plunged, dust obscuring his sight, arms and legs flailing, and was swept away in the rubble.


	4. Abandoned

Chapter Four: Abandoned 

-1-

When the shaking subsided, McKay bit his lip and shifted the few feet to a bulge in the outcrop and looked out. Settling stones continued to fall around him and a narrow gravel stream rushed past the entrance like a minor avalanche. As it leveled off, he realized the ledge that had been there before was now fractured, and Sheppard was missing. Feeling faint, he pressed himself to the outcrop to catch his breath, then leaned out to see Gage appear over the edge of the ravine, haul himself up and begin the hunt, headed toward him. Rodney managed to rise, supported against the rock, but he was slow, shrinking away as Gage strode round the corner, heaved him straight up and braced him on the wall.

McKay's heels came up on the rock. He thought he would pass out. "Murderer," he said. "You're dead."

"No thanks to you." Gage replied in the same raspy voice Sheppard had spoken in, the voice of nano-life. He looked ten years younger, his blue irises teaming with golden lights. "Where are the others?"

"Others?" McKay winced. The cave was going gray. He was certain if he did pass out that he'd never wake up.

Gage's voice was his own this time: "They want to annihilate them."

"To whom...am I speaking?"

"These mini-gadgets in me are cramped," he said. "They want to come out and play. Tell us."

McKay's eye twitched. "Would I know that? The others, they're...independent."

"Where is the Architect?"

"Never met him," McKay said.

"They lied to you."

McKay wasn't sure which had spoken, Gage or the hostile 'bots. "I don't know what you want."

"Come on, tell and they'll help you. Hot Shot can't, he's in his grave. He left you to die, he wasn't gonna' come back."

"Now you're lying," McKay said. His fist pushed weakly against Gage's chest.

Gage's eyes flickered and he grasped him tighter, smacked him against the rock. McKay blacked out, returned to greater pain and the odor of wet soil over Gage's clothing.

"You want to live?" Gage said.

McKay couldn't speak.

"We say," he repeated. "You want to live?"

"I want...shove it." McKay swallowed. Gage was bluffing about Sheppard; he had to be.

"You know what we can do? We can fix you, or squeeze those oozing holes in your gut from inside and out and keep you on alert while we do it. We can spread an infection in a minute, cram your heart until it explodes, then rip out your lungs cell by cell. Or the method I'd choose, in chunks. We guarantee you'll enjoy every moment."

"We were guided," Mckay said. His foot slipped from under him and Gage slammed him up again. "Can't...can't tell you anything."

"Let's go," said Gage. He forced him forward by the neck. They'd gone a short distance when Gage grew impatient, frustrated with Rodney's inability to walk faster.

Turning a corner, McKay crumpled against the wall. "Where're you taking me?" he said.

"Keep going." He cuffed him on the head.

McKay hit the ground, clutching his side. "I'm bleeding to death, genius, in case you couldn't tell."

"Get up!"

"Impossible," McKay said. "Don't grasp much, do you?"

Gage dropped, seized McKay's shin and tucked it under an arm, began to untie his bootlace.

"Don't touch me," he said, too drained to resist.

Finishing, Gage tested the lace with a firm jerk. He pushed Rodney to his side, grabbed his wrists. McKay cried out and in the slips of a few knots, his hands were tied behind him.

McKay struggled to stay lucid. "Let me go," he said. "I couldn't possibly be of any use to you."

"Shut up," said Gage, and a puff of golden 'bots emerged from his lips, the size of a baseball. He gathered up McKay's shirt and they dove down, lengthening into a line. They entered the wound.

A burn ignited from the bullet hole, spreading into McKay's lower back and ribs. He gasped. They would attack him from within, inflaming nerves in their path, kill him gradually. "No," he said. "It's no use."

-2-

Sheppard coughed, shook dirt clods from his head and rubbed his eyes, which only made things worse. There was sand on his tongue. His throat was scratchy. He extracted himself from the rubble, shoving rocks with his feet. No busted bones. He'd have bruises everywhere but he'd lived, playing possum for the benefit of Gage, who'd survived the rock fall. After the dust had settled, he'd heard Gage's footsteps crunching near, then away, and saw him climb up.

McKay-he had to get back to him. Unless Rodney had managed to run away and find another tunnel to hide in, Gage would have gotten to him first. The bleeding had been steady, not a gusher, which in one sense was good. Thing was, Gage didn't care about Rodney, dead or alive.

Sheppard got up on one knee, carefully rose, aching and spotted with abrasions, and scrutinized the territory. The Lumi-fog had abandoned them. It didn't matter they'd accessed his tactical knowledge; they weren't going to use it to their advantage. He'd have to engage his own defenses, and get out of the ravine as fast as possible.

Going to the Jumper, he stuck his head in and peered inside, seeking supplies, weapons. The area behind the pilot's seat was buried and emergency lights flickered, fading. The vehicle shifted and he removed his hands from the hatch and waited until the rubble inside settled. Getting trapped was not on his agenda.

On hands and knees, he crawled in over the rubble and dug around tenderly, discovered a sidearm and his jacket, no extra ammo. Gage had probably managed to locate his own weapon. The cavern trembled and the Jumper began to wobble. As it rolled, dirt poured on to his shoulders. He scrambled out, wondering if Gage had retained more than one gun.

Outside, he put on his jacket and walked around the rockpile, propped the sidearm into his waistband. He found a shallower place to start, fighting for a foothold. The soil, too crumbly to support him, disintegrated and he slipped against it. Moving farther away, he tested another spot with luck.

Once at the top, he checked for Gage before anchoring an elbow and drawing himself up. He jumped to his feet, taking cover behind the wall, out of site from the passageway opening. He listened, making light steps. It was quiet. The corner where he'd left McKay was sprinkled with blood, leading away. His stomach flip-flopped. There were two sets of footprints, one messy, the second definite. The walls glowed softly where someone had touched, smeared with red fingerprints. They hadn't been gone long.

He followed, activating the nanolight enough to see the trail of drops and prints. If the 'bots had the same reparative abilities as the Lumi-fog, they would not waste their energy healing McKay, occupying him long enough to torture him, use him as they pleased. Sheppard chased off the thought; he didn't want to speculate on Rodney's fate. But he himself had been under the influence of nanites twice and knew what they were capable of-and those had been the friendly ones.


	5. Leverage

Chapter Five: Leverage 

1-

In minutes, McKay's discomfort lessened; he felt less faint. He glanced down at the injury. The bleeding had slowed, the hole patched with a thin ivory tissue layer that stood out over red. The nanobots had partially healed him to their own purposes, not because they cared.

The 'bots poured out, returning to Gage through his ear. "Get up," he said, yanking him by the arm and into a natural tunnel.

Hustled to the front, McKay stumbled when an aftershock permeated the area, debris skittering over them. He rebalanced, compensating as if on the deck of a ship. The nanolight also reacted, passing round them in shimmering waves. He swerved to avoid a cascade of gravel, bowing low. "This place is highly unstable," he said. "I suggest you get out while you can."

The 'bots spoke through Gage. "They have destroyed the habitat."

"What do you mean?" He worked the bindings, intent on getting away.

"They build without restraint and have overmined for energy. The structural integrity of the rock has been compromised. It is collapsing, along with the fabricated network."

McKay ducked to avoid a low passage. "I was right."

"The architect demands it," they said.

"He's dead."

"He exists. While we lived underground, the architect experienced an accident."

"Accident, sure," McKay said. No doubt the 'bots had gotten their way that day.

"While exploring a newly-mined cave, he was crushed by a slide of boulders. We repaired him. Without intensive assistance, he could not live. They have sustained him for generations."

"Why do you need him?"

"We do not," they replied.

They turned into an artificial hall. McKay realized that the 'bots did not actually need the Architect but saw him as the driving force behind the Lumi-fog's work and were determined to destroy him in order to get him out of their way, to claim the resources for themselves.

In his own voice, Gage said, "The radiation is depleting the surface nanobots. They want this territory, shut down construction before the whole complex implodes"

McKay staggered. He was worn out. They were keeping a fast pace, hiking to lower depths. "I need a drink, food."

Gage laughed, punched McKay at the kidney. "There's ways around that. Behold me! Tougher than ever."

Rodney reeled. He'd clobber him if his hands weren't tied. "Oh joy," he said, bending gingerly. The blow left his back stinging. "Your life is complete now. The 'bots have upgraded you, correct? So I can blame this on them. Innocence becomes you, really."

"It's a fringe benefit," Gage said, ignoring Rodney. "I can't expire."

They had reached a triangular doorway. McKay stopped, supported against the doorjamb. "Why are we here?"

"Leverage," Gage said. He waved a golden hand over the sensor in the door. When it opened, he prodded McKay into a chamber similar to the one in which he and Sheppard had been trapped. This one was in disrepair, showing signs of quake damage. It was dim, smelled damp. Part of the floor slanted, cracked by shifting rock from below, uplifting tiles like roots under sidewalk. Thin fissures had formed in the sloped ceiling and on its six-foot walls.

"Your subterranean fog pals aren't supposed to harm their allies, the organics. It's in their programming. We don't have that problem anymore." Gage crossed the chamber to the opposite door and arched an arm over it. It would not open. "Shit," he said, kicking it. "They've sealed it off." He crossed back, yelling into the air: "You can't keep us away for long."

"I won't go on with you," McKay said. "You're a brainless bore, Gage. I'm amazed the nanobots didn't pass you over for a jackass." Gage backhanded him and he crumpled against the wall. Rodney straightened up, defiant. "Why don't they take the information?" he said. "You'll know I don't know anything."

With another sweep of his hand, Gage closed the entrance, the golden 'bots completing the task.

"We are not sufficient of us," they said, again speaking from within Gage.

Gage regained command. "They only need you as bait is what they're trying to say." Wresting McKay over, he sat him next to a support beam and seized his ankle to loosen the remaining bootlace. McKay tugged in his leg, tried to prevent him. Holding tight, Gage glared as if on the verge of breaking off the entire limb. No matter how hard he tugged, Rodney could predict he wouldn't win this round against his captor.

"Stop it," said Gage. Golden 'bots swirled out of his nose. "You'll regret it." He restarted on the lace.

McKay resisted. For him, submission would never come easily. With one firm jerk, Gage usurped his authority and Rodney was tossed backward, nipping his head on the edge of the beam.

While he recovered, Gage completed his chore and scraped his prisoner from the floor. "Wait until they hear you scream," he said, securing him to the beam. "Our specialty."

2-

Sheppard trailed the red spots, squinting to make them out, and came to a large stain on the floor. He dabbed it; it was wet. McKay had been here, yet had walked off. After that, the bleeding had decreased. He inspected the pathway, found partial red footprints in loosened soil leading into an artificial hallway. Tracking the prints, he saw they faded as they went along. Gage was keeping McKay alive. It was a fleeting relief.

Before him, the Lumi-fog appeared in their human image. Sheppard jumped back. "Crap," he said. "Where have you been? I need you."

"We can not allow you to proceed."

"Your reason is?"

"Our enemy has attacked and claimed various sections of the complex. If we allow it, you will be captured and executed."

"Do you know where McKay is?"

" 'Call me Rodney'? " it asked, mimicking McKay.

"You know who," Sheppard said. He had no patience for jokes, even if Lumi didn't mean it as one.

"Gage has contained him in Chamber 1-3-6. We have locked both exits."

"Take me there." Sheppard fastened his jacket. "He's been shot. He needs you."

"We will all be destroyed."

"Cowards." Sheppard couldn't believe what he was calling names: a collection of flighty machines who had somehow convinced him they were people. He stepped forward and the Lumi-fog dissolved from its human form and spread itself wide like a screen across the passage from top to bottom. He tried pushing past them, was repelled with a shock that left his face smarting. "Damn you, get out of the way!" He went back to the tunnel and picked up several stones, returned and hurled them at the screen. They sparked and hissed, unyielding, intact.

"I don't have time for this." From ahead, a shout echoed into the hallway. "I'll strangle you, Gage," he said, tapping the screen. It popped, sent a warning sizzle up his arm. "Stand fast, Rodney, I'll get to you."

The Lumi-fog reformed into human copy, blocking Sheppard each time he attempted to pass.

"Cut it out!" Sheppard demanded. "We don't have time for this."

"Come," it said, "the Architect will see you."

3-

McKay wilted sideways, bindings taut against the beam. He looked up, focused on the ceiling. In the vertex, a thin crack had formed and water leaked into the chamber, down to a craggy section where the floor lifted up, creating a driphole. What he wouldn't give for a drink. As he eased into unconsciousness, something pricked his wound.

He yelled out. "Get away from me," he said, his nerves raw. A small troop of the nanobot horde had exited Gage and invaded him, this time raising havoc, not healing. His side throbbed, trousers soaked with blood. Spasms gripped him every few minutes, prolonging the effect. The louder he protested, the more they ravaged. "They won't appear," he mumbled.

"What'd you say?" Gage said. "You want to apologize?"

McKay fixed on his ugly face, despised him. "Why'd you kill Jaden?"

"You really should think about what you say before you say it, Rodney. Your big mouth always gets you in trouble, doesn't it?" He jabbed him with his foot. "And you wonder why people get mad at you."

He stayed still; it hurt to move. "Why?"

"Feel this?" Gage pressed his abdomen. "You're null and void. Like Hot Shot."

McKay groaned, eyes tearing. "Go to hell." He kicked to push him aside, was unable to do the job. Gage did not allow him to get away with it.

A blade seemed to pierce his lower torso and he tried to change position, away from the pain, but it came from his insides, not without. His legs tingled and numbed, sinking into heavy weights, then they were gone. Gage had deployed the 'bots into his spinal column where they'd severed sensation downward from his hips. He took a staggered breath and they engaged a new cycle of harassment, their golden mist penetrating the bullet hole and exploding out his back, reentering to repeat the process.

Gage would attain pleasure in this, in McKay's vulnerability, reveling in the chance to use the nanobots' power to exert his will over those he most resented. Rodney could neither hide nor help it-there was no shame here, meters under, like hell was said to be, no self-consciousness, no image to assert. No one would hear him, not even Sheppard. Unrestrained, his cries went out, equally unavailing.


	6. Chamber One Three Six

Chapter Six: Chamber One Three Six 

...1...

"This is the wrong way." Sheppard pointed behind him. "McKay's voice came from that direction. How much farther?" When the fog had refused to let him pass, he had reluctantly retreated into the hallway while it followed, encouraging him along numerous ramps and stairwells.

"We are arrived." Lumi-fog escorted him past a cloud of its violet companions who served as guards for a crawl space. Sheppard cooperated, going through on all fours, coming out a keyhole on the other side. Lumi-fog also passed and regrouped in human form.

In the room, a combination of natural stone and fabricated walls, a thin young man sat at a console surrounded by machines. He wore a dusty brown shirt and pants dotted with small rips. On his head, a space about the size of a quarter shone violet within his dark hair. Sheppard came round to speak with him. When the man did not look away from the console, he waved his hand in front of his eyes, brimming with violet specks. He was unresponsive.

Lumi-fog said, "He requires constant repair. Tissue degrades rapidly, as fast as we maintain them."

Sheppard knew their efforts were futile. He pounded his fist on the console. "You've wasted my time. McKay could be dead by now," he said. "Why bring me here, to trick me? Meet this? He isn't in this world anymore." He started toward the keyhole.

"You must stay," said the fog, and its bottom half became a screen, covering the hole. "There is danger outside this safe room."

"What about Rodney?"

"It is too late for him. The Architect will explain..."

"Do you really believe he'll just perk up and chat with me?"

"He breathes."

Sheppard put his hand on the Architect's shoulder. His bones were prominent. "That's about all he can do. When's the last time you saw him eat or say anything? Having another human here won't change him." Sheppard headed toward the opening. "I gotta' go. I'll handle this myself."

The screen glistened over the keyhole, didn't budge.

"Get out of my way!" he said. "I can't wait any longer. Recall your screen."

Lumi-fog was motionless. "You must stay."

"Listen. We can save your little kingdom here. All we have to do is work together as a team, no more of this fly-by-night, make-it-up-as-you-go-along stuff." He drew his sidearm, aimed it at them. "Let me go."

...2...

Gage jerked McKay upright against the beam. "Wake up, we're not done yet." He slapped him, pinched his throat until he inhaled suddenly, opened his eyes.

Rodney's head drooped to his chest. If he could just have a drink of water, swim in it, suck it in like the sea air of Atlantis, a wonderful city filled with enormous tanks of precious liquid that would last as long as the ocean, quenching, comforting...

"Look at me," Gage insisted, grabbing him by the chin. A whiff of golden 'bots circled them. "Call your friends."

McKay didn't answer, lids half-closed. They had attacked his retina, leaving a black curtain over the peripheral vision of the left eye.

"Damn you, call your friends." He blew the 'bots toward McKay and they slipped into his mouth. "They've locked the other fucking door. Stinky rats."

To prod him awake, the nanobots barraged his brain, induced a migraine. McKay clenched his teeth, distressed to find himself in the same place, back in blood and sweat and above all else, the scent and sound of beautiful dripping water. His tongue was sticky, smeared with a bitter taste. He spit out a wad of pale red saliva, more at Gage's face. The veins in Gage's forehead pulsed like worms. His fist drew back; he seemed to change his mind, taking McKay's scraped arm and giving it a solid squeeze.

If only they had numbed the rest of his body. Rodney protested, but they would not allow him to black out. They had all the time on the planet and would keep his heart pumping and his mind aware whether or not they finally got what they wanted. He hoped the Lumi-fog would return; but if not, that the roof would split and smother them in rubble, or the vertex would burst open, drown him in sweet springwater.

"Help me," he said, hushed, unaware he'd spoken out.

"That's the ticket." Gage rose over him. "But say it louder."

...3...

The gun was a vain threat. Sheppard knew he could not discharge it in the room without bringing the roof down. The structure had extensive damage; portions were ready to crumble. He stood down, and the fog reformed in total.

There was a noisy rumble from the depths of the complex. Sheppard felt unsteady. He thought at first the lack of water and food had made him lightheaded when he realized a wave of motion had rolled under, then another. "Feel that?" he asked Lumi-fog. "We're all doomed. Do you hear me? After who knows how many decades, you're doomed. You've created a disaster."

Lumi had waited silently. "Our measurements indicate a significant pressure bearing upon this section from the geological expanse above us."

The rumble grew and a part of the ceiling sailed to the floor. Sheppard placed a hand on the wall to stay upright. "This is a safe room? We have to get out."

"The Architect must be preserved," said Lumi-fog.

"We don't have time for that," he said. "Listen, you've got to let him go, let him die. Humans don't want to live like this. He's badly damaged, even you can't restore him to what he was. You should know that by now."

Larger pieces disintegrated and a heavy block landed near his boot, skimming his shoulder. "Ouch," he said, dodging out of the way. He cradled his forearm.

Lumi-fog relented. "We do not want you harmed. But we can not allow the Architect to deteriorate."

"You don't need him anymore." Sheppard realized that the nanite programming had melded them to the goals of the Architect: to build and expand, an intention which should have been aborted when the place started falling apart. They would be lost without him.

"I'll be your architect," he said. "Okay, I don't know much about architecture or molecular engineering or any other engineering but my people do, McKay does." He stretched the truth to convince them. "Help me save him and he can help you."

"We are familiar with Rodney's mind. He is not an engineer."

Sheppard was caught in his lie. "No, maybe not, but you know what's in his mind, how it works, and where we come from..."

"Canada."

"Atlantis, a great city, there are others like McKay, scientists."

"Our enemy will eventually return to the surface to reenergize their solar cells."

"Didn't you learn anything from me?" Sheppard asked. "You've got to see. McKay can't wait that long. I promise I'll do my best, get someone to assist you."

Lumi-fog seemed unconvinced, its center pulsating in a varied sequence. "We will lead you to him, if our enemy does not impede us."

...4...

"Louder," Gage ordered, poking McKay in the chest. "Or I'll have them fix you up just enough to start over again."

"There's no reason for this," McKay said, gathering what survived of his wits. Gage's well-known volatile nature had taken an evil turn when the nanobots had overrun him. He'd become a new organism, one consumed with the avenging, territorial nature of the nanobots combined with his own viciousness and jealousies. "Send your pets to unlock the door."

He gave Rodney a sharp jostle. "They're working on it," he said, then left him for the driphole, indulging in a drink.

McKay licked his lips. The water was a mere two meters away.

"You thirsty?" Gage asked. "Then hail them. Use some effort."

"I told you, they've evacuated."

"We know different." He walked behind McKay and with one hand, snapped the laces that bound him, towing him to the puddle. He lowered him face down. "I'm your boss. Obey me."

McKay could almost taste the water, but Gage had snagged his hair, kept his face floating above it.

"Do you remember?" he said. "The night Jaden bought the farm?"

Rodney nodded, shifting an elbow under him. With the other arm, he reached for Gage's jacket. His hand was wooden. He could not take hold. The attempt sent pangs through his side.

Gage tugged his head. "You saw nothing."

"I saw you," McKay insisted. He flicked his tongue, nabbed a drop.

"After ten years his assistant, Jaden wouldn't stand by me, turned me in. No loyalty in the man."

"He tried to get you help," McKay said. It was an effort, but perhaps he could remind Gage that Jaden had been a decent man.

"He was clumsy. Clumsy and disloyal...like you." His temper flared. "What'd you see, Rodney?" he said.

"I told the truth."

Gage lifted him higher by the shirt and neck, threatened to nail him to the beam and give the 'bots free range. "What if I order them finish you off? They can start by severing your left arm, then chew through your right, with your leftover eye for dessert."

It made no difference. The black curtain had descended into his vision, and he was deaf in one ear. Was this it? Missing in action in the middle of nowhere before age forty? And to think he'd thought that was old. Gage had gone madder than ever. Sheppard had to be dead, or he would've come for him, and the Lumi-fog was a machine, inanimate on a molecular scale. It had no reason to save him, no idea how long a human could last before the body gave up what the mind had already lost.

"Or maybe they can scour you out," Gage said. "Leave your skin trash bag empty, stuck on a twig, flopping in the breeze."

McKay gave in; his voice cracked. "I saw nothing," he said, savoring the dream of water. It seemed the one thing that would have the power to soothe him.

Gage laughed, dunked him into the puddle. "Go for it," he said, holding him there. "Take a nice long sip."

...5...

The hallway through which they'd come was impassable, jammed with boulders and debris. Sheppard and the Lumi-fog backtracked, then latched on to an idea which might expedite their quest: They would usher Sheppard through a portion of wall, where the nanolight would open a pathway.

Sheppard was unsure, asked them how it worked. He didn't comprehend everything; he'd need McKay to explain later. The process required a great deal of energy, at least where organics were concerned, not the nanites, or it might have been employed in the tetrahedron room, minus the enemy threat. They could manage one humanoid if they thought it was doable. Well enough, thought Sheppard, if it would get them to One Three Six faster, he would trust them. Had the Architect traveled in this manner? Sheppard asked. Yes, they said, he invented it. He prayed they remembered how to do it correctly.

In a smooth tetrahedron room, Lumi-fog requested that Sheppard place both hands on the wall. Immediately, the nanolight collected around his fingers and Lumi-fog enveloped him from head to toe. Sheppard saw violet, felt a tingling and flush, and his hands depressed into the wall as if it were wet plaster. Lumi-fog closed in and his arms soon sank into the wall. On his first step in, his heart pounded. Nothing hurt, yet he was puzzled he could breathe. Don't look back, he told himself, forward, forward. With his hands held out, he was pleased to see the lights stayed on, surrounded by the hum of the nanites who protected him from the rock, synergizing with the nanolight, creating a corridor.

He didn't know how long it was. A few minutes, in slow motion. Reaching out, his skin hit cold air, and he emerged into a natural tunnel, adjacent to an artificial one. He stepped out, touched the wall behind him. It was solid.

A small group of nanite reinforcements joined them. "One Three Six," said Lumi-fog, suspended at the intersection where the tunnels met. It had mastered Sheppard's image except for its awkward movements.

"Which door?" Sheppard said. He heard a voice bellow through the hallways. "Get ready, Gage. You'll eat what you deserve."

...6...

"Let's get back to work," Gage said, pulling McKay from the puddle.

Rodney choked; he'd nearly drowned. Water spurted from his nostrils and he coughed it up, gagging. He'd wanted a drink...not this way. Gage had done the dirty work himself, dipping him in at will while the 'bots frolicked in the air, appearing eager to resume their charge.

Gage dragged him back to the beam. McKay glanced up; it was difficult to sit, to see, yet he noted a violet flash in the corner. He turned away, believed he was hallucinating.

"Getting warm in here." Gage dug into his inner pocket for a protein bar, removed his jacket and tossed it on the floor. "Break time," he said, sitting near the driphole. "Love to eat." As he took his first bite, the 'bots that had been rejoicing overhead disappeared into his mouth. "You're shivering, Rodney, should've brought your jacket."

He toppled to his back, regaining his breath. "Hangar bay," he said, voice hoarse. He hadn't sensed his hands for hours and it was a slight ease to have them untied, the circulation restored. There wasn't much else of him to bother with any longer.

"Left it? Too bad." Gage took another bite. "I can use it, since you won't be. When I get back to Atlantis, think Weir will scream as much as you do?"

Rodney uncurled his fingers, nauseated. "Disgusting," he said. "You...don't matter. They own you." He inhaled, expelled words by pure will. "Taking orders, forever."

Gage stopped chewing and swallowed, stood and towered over him, wild golden flickers clustered in his pupils. He got on his knees, snatched McKay's wrist and pulled it against his chest, palm out. McKay clawed him with his loose arm, only fanned the space between them.

He wrapped his fingers around McKay's pinky. "Call me boss," he ordered.

The water in the vertex teased McKay. Gage was winning the war. "Freak," he said. One last try, for Sheppard.

Gage twisted the finger. A yell burst into the chamber. "Call me boss." He prepared the next finger. "You got nine chances left."

"Loser," McKay said.

Another outcry.

"Eight."

McKay stole a strained breath. "Jackass."

...7...

"What the hell?" Sheppard said, hearing McKay. He held back. At his command, the Lumi-fog would unlock the door; experience told him he couldn't rush in. "We have to go in, now."

"Gage is near Rodney, right of the entry. Ambush?" Lumi-fog asked. The floor and walls trembled.

"Not exactly," Sheppard said. "I hope you weren't detected. Where's our second string, our reinforcements?"

"These are those available." Lumi-Fog explained the distribution of their kind: some were occupied shoring up jeopardized sections that threatened to fail, some were mining for depleted energy sources, others were defending their levels, others were...

Sheppard told it to shut up, whispering. "There's no time for that." Another shout came from the room. "Open the door, hide where he can't see or hear you." Sheppard stood to the side. "Simple as that. I'll take cover. When I fire, stay out of the way."

"The nanobots will abandon Gage if he is extensively damaged. Their behavior will be unpredictable."

"I know exactly what they'll do. So do you. They'll come after me, and all of you. Like killer bees. You do your shield-screen trick while I clear McKay outta' there. As soon as we're all out, seal the door." He raised his sidearm. McKay's voice arose again. "You'll pay for this, Gage. Let's go."

Lumi swept over the sensor and made itself scarce. The door opened and Sheppard peeked in. McKay was on the floor, arm outstretched, still. Gage was absent. He stepped back and the Lumi-fog appeared, rushing in like leaves on wind. "Wait!" he said.

From behind the wall, Gage jumped, seized Sheppard by the neck and whipped him in, tossing him to the floor with a slap across the face. As Sheppard hit, the gun slipped, ejected from his grasp. Gage charged in for another round but was stopped short when Lumi-fog intervened, erecting a shield between the combatants. Without hesitation, the hostile 'bots attacked, a contingent of them deploying from Gage in a cloud, crackling and popping against the shield while the balance crowded and glistened in his pupils.

Sheppard popped to his feet, combed the room for the gun. It had skidded across the floor, its grip lodged in an upraised lump in the floor. As he went towards it, a small portion of the shield nanites broke away, went to the weapon and engulfed it in violet.

Gage darted around the shield and raced to the gun, shoved Sheppard aside. Stretching a leg, Sheppard tripped him. From the floor, Gage twisted round, grabbed a foot and brought Sheppard down. While they struggled, the violet fog escaped, fleeing back to its home shield.

Rising, Gage put Sheppard off with several kicks which allowed him to extract the gun. Aiming, he pressed the trigger. It clicked repeatedly, did not fire. Sheppard backed away, thankful. Simultaneously, the shield nanites sputtered and regrouped, then sped out the doorway, chased by the contingent of 'bots.

Incensed, Gage pitched the gun toward the major, who was halfway up. It hit him on the forehead and he lurched backwards, stunned.

...8...

Gage picked up Sheppard and planted his face in the wall, bending his arm back.  
"Hot Shot," he said. "Trouble to the end. So you're allies with the horseflies."

"If he's dead, you are, too," Sheppard said. He wriggled, attempting to break free.

Gage banged him into the wall. "He's the most uncooperative prick in the galaxy."

Sheppard growled. "Don't let go, because damn you, I'll make it a million times worse than you gave him."

"Wanna' see him? Say good-bye?" Gage jerked his elbow upwards. "Come on, march"  
He swung him from the wall and to the beam. "Hot Shot's here, Rodney, wake up." He prodded McKay with his boot and a trickle of blood spilled from his ear. Sheppard was horrified.

"Rodney, tell him you changed your mind," Gage said, opening his mouth wide. A mob of 'bots jettisoned out, clustered about McKay. He writhed as if lost in a nightmare.

"Get them off him!" Sheppard said. At least he was alive.

"Where's the Architect?" asked Gage. "Show us the way."

"You don't know?" Sheppard wrenched himself free, holding his elbow "Call off the bugs," he demanded. "I'll take you to him."

Gage recalled his minions and they rejoined him. "Go," he said, and McKay was peaceful again.

Sheppard glanced around the chamber. Lumi-fog was gone, probably destroyed. Reluctantly, he led Gage to the locked door. "Well?" he said, halting in front of it. Gage did not seem to comprehend. "I can't open it, and that's the way to the Architect."

Gage pushed him. "Use the other door, stupid,"

"I'm not sure I can find him that way this place is pretty confusing"

"Do it, or I'll send them into your stuck-up head and they can slash the location out."

"All right. Control it, okay?" He headed toward the opposite entry when he discerned an oncoming roar. The floor shudderedanother quake was mowing through the area. He claimed the advantage, using it as a distraction, and spun, aiming for Gage. He threw a punch, struck him on the chin. Gage prevailed and stood his ground, reaching for the major's throat, reaching to get a grip. Sheppard pounded him, trying to break away, when they both collapsed to the floor.

At that instant, Lumi-fog surprised them, zooming back in, establishing their shield around Gage like a cocoon, nearly catching Sheppard up in it as well.

"Watch your friendlies," Sheppard warned, scooting out of the way.

Gage got up, swiped at the Lumi-fog while the 'bots escaped, retreating from his body and zipping out the door. Lumi-fog assailed him, flashing painful sparks wherever he touched. It drove him toward the wall, firing in bursts, flung him against it, buckling him there. Advancing, their nanolight ally encompassed his body until his shoulder, knee and foot slid into the surface. Lumi-fog pushed, working at full capacity, the nanites resolved, bulldozing their adversary limb by limb. Gage screamed, begged them to cease, let him go. Half his body was engulfed in the wall, and he stretched his neck to keep from suffocating. He was trapped between the sparks and the nanolight which seemed to want to consume him. Sheppard watched from the floor, terrified and amazed at how well the fog had incorporated the lessons on warfare.

The siege continued. Gage's torso had been swallowed, imprisoned behind the wall, the front of his head exposed along with an arm. Lumi-fog persisted, its energy vivid and humming louder than Sheppard had previously seen or heard. Gage gasped, eyes bared and alone. Finally, with the last assault, he cried out, his face contorted, and vanished into the wall. It sealed up after him, a hand dangling, fingers gnarled and frozen.

Chamber One Three Six dimmed and Lumi-fog pulled back, hovered at the door, its luminescence faded.

"No no, not now." Sheppard pleaded, standing, feeling dizzy. "Please, you can't go." He motioned toward McKay.

"Sheppard," it said, assuming human form briefly. The image was wobbly and blurred. "We must refuel, summon replacements." And it flew off.


	7. Stasis

**Chapter Seven: Stasis**

...1...

Sheppard knelt by McKay. "You there?" he said.

Rodney's bad eye was lazy. "Lumi?"

"No, it's me. I'm that blurry, huh?"

"Had a date?" he said, words running together.

"Sorry." Sheppard spoke softly. "Took a wrong turn."

His eyes were distant. "Can't feel my legs."

Sheppard nixed the urge to blurt out 'Oh-my-God'. He couldn't digest it; Gage had crippled McKay. "Hang in there," he said, deciding that Rodney would see only calmness. "I said you'd be all right, didn't I?"

"Not hurt?"

Sheppard affirmed. "Don't talk. Lumi will be back soon." He worried it wouldn't be in time.

"You fell."

"Did. I was lucky. Save your strength."

McKay asked, "Where?"

Sheppard guessed: "Gage?" He glimpsed the protruding hand. From Rodney's location, it could not be seen. "Don't worry about him." He folded McKay's arm in gently, noticed his boots were off. "No talking, rest. I'll be right here." Gage's jacket lay nearby and he picked it up, rolled and tucked it under his neck.

At the door, he scanned the tunnel, wishing Lumi would hurry, concerned the 'bots would return. He didn't want to agitate McKay so he faked a smile. Collecting the boots, he set them by the beam, pacing, talking mainly for himself. In few words: Sheppard was afraid he'd lose it. "Stay with me, McKay," he said. "You're not leaving me with all the work. I expect you up and on duty ASAP. No convalescing and playing sick when we get back either. Weir's not sticking me with some low-ling wet-behind-the-ears, even though it's temporary. I'm not breaking in another civilian. They can offer me a bigger room, fabulous view, extra coffee. Won't matter...Nope, don't worry. They'll be here, they will."

When they weren't, Sheppard stuffed his fears down and sat with him. "I'll keep you company," he said, touching the back of his hand to McKay's marred face. It was clammy and he seemed drugged, sluggish. His arms were dotted with spidery veins, broken vessels. The fingers of his right hand were crooked and there was a red spot in the white of one eye. Bruises had formed quickly under the nanobot siege and the bindings had chewed into his wrists. He didn't stir, his gaze traveling through Sheppard as if searching for a way to leave the world he'd known.

"It won't be long now." At once, Sheppard recognized his statement could have more than one meaning. "That's...long for them to return," he said.

The Chamber flooded with light, a violet cloud-fog, scattered and brilliant. Lumi-Fog had arrived.

Sheppard's composure broke: "Now," he said. "Start. We don't have much time."

Lumi adopted human form. "We are uncertain he can be restored to full functioning."

Sheppard felt a creeping twinge. He didn't want McKay to end up like the Architect. "Try," he said. "I don't have any options."

Lumi was accompanied by the larger cloud of its own kind. "We must lull him into semi-stasis. A deep sleep. This rebuilding requires sustained effort."

"Whatever has to be done," Sheppard said. He turned away from the wound, the stained clothes. "Just hurry it up, will you?"

"I will do my best."

He could've sworn he'd heard Lumi say 'I'; it didn't matter now. "I'll owe you one."

"Bigtime," Lumi said. The larger cloud hovered gracefully over McKay.

Sheppard prepared Rodney. "Listen to me," he said, upset by his expression. "Close your eyes. Lumi knows what to do. In the meantime, you'll sleep, that's all."

"You?" he said, just audible.

"I'll work on getting us something to eat. You'll be starving when you wake up."

McKay obeyed and the cloud descended, entering his ears while Lumi waited. Sheppard leaned against the beam, stricken. It made him nervous to hand McKay's care over to someone else. How would he explain this to everyone in Atlantis?

"You've got to verify this nutty story, no one's going to believe me...if you're...well, you'll be there. Don't worry," he said. He hadn't meant to interrupt, bother them at their work. He couldn't help treating Lumi and its comrades as if they were people. In a way, they were. A collective mind, like a team with very, very small members.

"He is in stasis," said Lumi.

Sheppard nodded, feeling his own aches, a knot on his forehead. He'd been running on adrenaline the whole time, since the rockslide. When they were done with Rodney, perhaps they wouldn't mind patching him up a bit.

McKay's chest barely registered, rattled then stopped. Sheppard panicked, set a hand over Rodney's heart. "He's not breathing," he said.

The human image melted and Lumi returned to its original form, streaming hastily into McKay's mouth.

The corners of McKay's eyelids twinkled with violet, some on his lips. "Come on, what are you doing in there?" Sheppard contained his own breathing to better sense McKay's. Did they know a human could only go a few minutes without air? In his condition, maybe less than normal. "Nothing, guys, nothing..."

The chest heaved; McKay inhaled, anchored in a deep sleep. Sheppard monitored him a moment, counting a few breaths, and sighed. Rising, he went to the water and drank, splashed his face before resuming his vigil. There was something else he had to do: He gathered up the broken pieces of McKay's bootlaces and rethreaded the top two holes of his boots. Carefully, he straightened Rodney's sagging socks and slipped the boots on his feet, tied them off. When McKay was ready to walk again...and he would walk again...he'd need his boots.

He rested against the beam. The shimmering fog swirled about the gunshot wound like vapor. A strangely beautiful sight. "Too bad we can't rewind everything. I should've put the Jumper into a nose dive right from the get-go...would've really knocked Gage off his feet...could've pounced on him, something," he said, voice low. "Should've never let him force us out of the hangar bay." There was a glow around McKay's throat. "This'll save Beckett a lot on bandages. More efficient than a hospital. Nobody likes those. Take a number. You get first-class service here. As soon as you're okay, we'll concentrate on getting home."

He sized up the room. "This place gives me goosebumps. Too confining. Didn't get that so much before. Ever been to Carlsbad Caverns? The Big Room Cave is over thirty football fields long. That's a lot of football. First time I went, I was seven. Pretty skeptical kid. Even then I wanted to go up into the sky, not down into the Earth. The sky was big, eagles lived there. Caverns were great but there's no sun. You have to have sun. Eagles know."

He scratched his head; dirt trickled out. The Jumper would need digging out, lots of repair. Unearth their ID transmitters. The Lumi-fog was probably good at that, too. If they could get the Jumper up and purring, maybe they could unblock a pathway to the surface, fly it up and out, seal the opening before the 'bots found out. They would attack again, once they refueled and recovered, what was left of them. After that, he could backtrack and signal, get home. To his cot, fresh clothes, safe sunshine. He yawned, ran fingers through his wet hair. The water had been a comfort.

Rodney's chest was rising, everything fine, going well, up and down, in and out; violet sprinkles, a gentle hum, water drips, my own respiration, nanolight cutting aside the dark zone, dampness, smell of dust on clothes, blood on the floor, almost over, dozing, unwilling to sleep...what will I find?

...2...

"Crap." Sheppard awoke to an unsettling tremor. The ceiling hailed lumps to the floor, cracks enlarged before him, one running a ragged line under his feet, hunks of wall tossed out. He bounced up, put his arms under McKay's and sat him up, lifted and dragged him out to the intersection between artificial and natural tunnels, hauling him a few meters into the latter passageway. There he laid and sheltered him from debris with his body. When the quake halted, he was grateful the tunnel had survived. Chamber One-Three-Six had begun to collapse, beams giving way.

The dust settled. McKay's eyelids fluttered. When he opened them, Sheppard moved close, fascinated by the violet specks. The red spot in the white had disappeared. He checked McKay's wound. Scar tissue had begun to show, encircling the hole, badly bruised and swollen all around, but improved. His fingers had been straightened and there were fewer spidery veins. Lumi had more work to do.

"How're you doing?" Sheppard said, spreading his jacket over him. McKay's stasis condition had apparently ended. He took it as a good sign. "Feel your legs?"

"No. I'm very tired." He raised a hand to his mouth. "Thirsty."

"Water's down there, in the chamber," he said. "We'll have to ask for more."

McKay blinked, was unnaturally hushed. Sheppard wished the noisy Rodney would show up again.

"When you get your legs, we're moving up in the world, to the Architect's place," Sheppard said, adjusting the jacket over him. He'd relapsed into unconsciousness.

...3...

How much time had gone by? Sheppard scratched his chin, had a stubble crop of about three or four days. Time was faithless here, no sunrise, no moon to signal the night. The nanolight was diligent and dutiful, keeping the tunnel in a subtle warm glow, similar to candles minus heat. Sheppard wondered about the writing on the walls. He'd seen it before but hadn't had time to study it. They were likely numbers, levels. What was weird was how uninhabited the whole complex was, as though no one other than the Architect had ever lived here, or the inhabitants had shipped out, lock, stock and barrel. The console the Architect had been sitting at was a type of computer but none of the rooms had any such thing. Perhaps the Architect had inherited the core of the complex in the same way they had inherited Atlantis.

The Lumi-fog had not shown itself, still embedded within McKay. That was fine. Until the repairs were done right. Trying not to disturb them, he sneaked a protein bar from the jacket and ate half, saved the rest. McKay would need it more than he did. Their water supply would be acceptable; food would be in scarce supply. There was small chance that edibles existed underground other than mushrooms and he wasn't willing to try those, deadly poisonous if they made a mistake. If they managed to get to the surface, the plant life could be harmful considering the high UV levels.

When he felt chilly, he got up, wandered into the tunnel and returned on the run when an aftershock rumbled by. It caused no further damage at their location. And where were the other nanites Lumi-fog had told him of? Shoring up the place? Cooking dinner? Building relentlessly, not knowing when to call it quits? Destroyed by the 'bots or celebrating? Sheppard heard McKay moan. He was warm, otherwise impassive. Lifting his soiled shirt, he saw improvement in the wound, the scar tissue closing in a millimeter or two. Progress. Lumi wasn't giving up, and neither was McKay. Good for him.

"Good for me," he said aloud.

Mostly he dozed, and after a few hours muttering to himself, dying for a pillow, a fireplace and grilled cheese sandwich, he slid to the ground, pulled in his legs, and contemplated how to unbury the Jumper fast enough so they didn't starve to death first.

...4...

"Curtain's up," McKay said, testing his vision by shutting one eye. "They did it." He lifted his head, noted Sheppard zonked out near the wall, snoring heartily. Hearing's back, too, he thought, craning his head upward to see into the tunnels, toward the juncture. Sheppard's snores echoed up the corridors, annoying enough to keep King Kong awake.

McKay concentrated on his legs. He could almost feel them, like a mist on the breeze when you're getting near the waterfall. It troubled him. Would the nanites be able to fix the paralysis? In his head, he could hear Lumi-fog's soft humming. Gage's nanobots had had a different type of hum. Like a chainsaw. A billion of them cutting at once.

Gage? He was alarmed. "Where is he? Where?" he said, up on his elbows. "We've got to get out of here."

Sheppard jolted. "What's wrong? What is it?" He was groggy, disheveled.

"We've gotta' get out of here," said McKay. "He'll be here, I know."

"It's all right, he won't be back."

"How do you know? Where is he?"

Sheppard came to him. "Lay down, save your energy. I know, they took care of him, the little guys inside you."

McKay hesitated, then relaxed. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later. Trust me, you have enough to deal with. Your legs any stronger?

"Numb," he said, massaging the bridge of his nose.

Sheppard tapped him on the knee. "Feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Sheppard pushed up his sleeve. "Nothing."

McKay said, "Try my other knee."

"Great. You did feel it."

"I still can't move them."

Sheppard replaced the jacket. "Give 'em time, give 'em time. You're lucky you can't feel. This floor's harder than rock."

"It is rock."

"What'd I tell ya'?"

"How'd I get here?" McKay asked. The last thing he remembered was Sheppard saying he didn't want to break in another civilian.

"The chamber gave way." He fussed with a nick on his arm. "There was another quake. We got out on express."

"Thank you," McKay said. "I didn't think I'd make it."

"I had support." Sheppard blotted the nick with his sleeve. "Team effort."

McKay watched the nanolight walls release a shimmering burst on their own. "Extra coffee for you."

...5...

After additional tedious hours and protein bar bites, McKay regained about fifty percent of the feeling in his legs. It was time to move up in the world. He put on the jacket and wrapped an arm around Sheppard's neck, was towed upright. It would be a challenging trek, up toward the Architect's chamber, eventually the way out to the surface.

They took frequent pit stops and Sheppard reminded Lumi they required water. So whenever you're ready, he told them, we'll be waiting, dry-mouthed, but don't let us take you from your work. He was exhausted, pushed himself to press on, handling much of McKay's weight, enduring his pain and his own when they hit a rugged spot, places where the quaking had caused the ceiling to break up. It was unusually difficult on narrow stairs where he had McKay rest while he cleared a suitable pathway. Each time they stopped, he had to take a deep breath and steel himself to walk on.

McKay felt guilty, a burden for not being able to walk. Frustrated, he suppressed his aches and tried not to speak to conserve energy. He told himself it was merely a matter of time and then he would literally be able to pull his own weight.

Thankfully, partway there, the Lumi-fog exited McKay and brought them water in their fabulous cloud-and-bowl serving ware, which refreshed them. After that, Lumi-fog resumed its healing project.

By the time they reached the chamber, Sheppard gratefully deposited McKay on to the platform mat and then collapsed, both silent. Before falling asleep, McKay wondered what Weir and Beckett might be speculating as to their whereabouts. They would've figured out what had happened, searching by increments with few clues to go on, thinking their friends might be irretrievably lost.

Perhaps not, it hadn't been that long...but what they'd been through since then. It seemed a very long time had gone by, and a very long time would pass before they'd get home.

...6...

When McKay woke up, the nanite fog was floating over him. He threw an arm over his face and cried out, believing they were the nanobots. No...unmistakably violet, not golden. They were taking leave to refuel, Lumi told him. McKay was at their mercy, their good will. Teeny-tiny automatons of kindness. His legs were the same, displaying an occasional independent twitch now and then, and the bullet hole remained a hole though smaller, front and back. It ached constantly. Regaining strength would take longer than rebuilding his body.

He felt frail, listless, and was alone. Sheppard had gone to the Jumper, leaving him uneasy, covered with dusty old clothes they'd found in cubbyholes. Shirts mostly, a couple of poncho-like pieces. Despite his weakness, he wanted to inspect the place. He came up on his elbows, woozy, and fell back on the clothes he'd been using for a pillow. Trying again, he sat up, wobbly. His head was spacey; shooting stars filled his vision. He surrendered, would try later. It was peaceful, the humming absent, no settling stones or Sheppard's laid-back voice. He drifted into a nap.

"What're you doing in bed? Get up!"

McKay looked up. Gage had him by the arm, squeezing until it hurt.

"You stupid son of a bitch, I'm going to kill you," he yelled. "Get up." Golden lightning fired from his mouth and drilled into McKay's pupils. He screamed.

Gage taunted him. "Weir screams like you, but that Doctor Beckett, he's a tough one. You should be ashamed you're not a real man like he is," he said. "I'll break him like I did you. Sissy!"

McKay beat the air with his fists. "Go away, go away, leave me alone, no more..."

"Wake up, stop it. It's me." Sheppard stood over him. "It's a dream. Gage is dead."

He stopped hitting, scanned the room. "Are you sure?"

"I saw him go."

McKay swayed, hands shaking. "I want to see."

"No. If you were well enough to do that I'd have you at the Jumper."

"What happened to him?"

"Lumi-fog attacked, drove him into the wall," Sheppard said. "The wall nanites swallowed him up, sealed him in it."

"They can do that? Transport organic matter?"

"Can." Sheppard picked fallen clothing off the floor. "They did it for me, got me through to get to you."

"Anything else you haven't filled me in on?" McKay asked.

Sheppard shrugged, threw the clothes on the platform and kept one scrap for himself. "A few."

"So, you didn't check, you didn't go back to the chamber, make sure Gage hadn't moved? I mean, maybe the quake jolted him out, maybe he survived somehow. The psycho 'bots could've come back and got him breathing again or...or... maybe they couldn't...couldn't hold him..."

"Rodney." Sheppard took him by the shoulders. "I didn't need to, I knew he was dead. And I had other things to do like keeping you alive."

"I want to see for myself."

"You can't walk. When you can, you're going to work with me to get that Jumper together. I'm sure you want to get out of this classy resort as much as I do." McKay's head sagged to his chest and Sheppard rescued him before he tipped off the platform. "Come on, take it easy. One thing at a time." He inspected Rodney's pupils. "There're gone."

McKay pulled up a cover, swept sand off the mat. "Refueling again."

Sheppard rose. "I'm going to need them. I can't clear out that damned rubble by myself. Not in good time. A shovel would be a miracle." He patted his stomach. "Geez I'm hungry."

Rodney could see the strain in his eyes. "I'll be ready soon."

There was a rumble; pebbles skittered from the cracks. Sheppard put his hand on the wall and leaned in, shoulders hunched. "Make it sooner."

"I didn't ask for this, no more than you did."

Sheppard straightened up, wiped his forehead. "Forget it. It's my stomach talking."

"At least you can walk," McKay said. "I'm doing the best I can."

"I said forget it." He set out for the Jumper, tossing the scrap away. "I gotta' get back."


	8. Requests

**Chapter Eight: Requests**

**...1...**

Days after, the nanites finished. At the Jumper, Lumi startled Sheppard, telling him that all that could be done was done, and the remainder would heal by itself. McKay had been fortunate, it said, there had been minimal brain damage.

"Can he walk?" Sheppard asked. He had been at the site for an extended time, using a shirt to carry rubble and dirt out of the Jumper, sweeping with his hands, gathering up the ends and dumping it out. Many breaks were necessary. So far, he hadn't entered the ship completely for fear it would roll, crush or bury him.

"Rodney's mobility may be possible with assistance," Lumi said.

"Crutches."

"A sound suggestion." Its Sheppard-shape disassembled for a split second, like a nanite fog hiccup. It seemed to be contemplating a great deal, then said, "Being organic is a formidable endeavor."

"I won't argue that. Stuff catches up with you." Sheppard snapped the dust out of the shirt and relaxed at the end of a jutting boulder, remembering how short he'd been with McKay. "By the way," he said. "I never had a chance to ask. Why'd you pick me to duplicate? That is, other than I'm better looking."

The Lumi-fog image smiled. "You were the one lying still."

"I see. You've been good to us," he said. "I hate to be demanding, but I need help to get all this cleaned out."

Lumi scattered and the nanites zoomed into the interior, began their sweeping efforts, spreading over the mess as though invisible ants were picking at the soil, wearing it down.

"Thanks." Sheppard inspected the Jumper's forward portside. The violet fog circled the damage, repairing so minutely that there was as much action in it as watching plants grow. They also busied themselves on the roof which had been dented in the crash. He filled another load of rubble and dumped it. The work went slowly on nothing but water. And since it took energy to climb out of the ravine, he would be away from the Architect's chamber a little longer.

In the meantime, until he could get down here himself, McKay would have to tolerate his solitude the same way Sheppard tolerated the gloomy atmosphere of the ravine. For his benefit, the nanolight had cast a patchy light on the area, enough to see what to do. Lumi's presence was a godsend, giving him 100 percent more light and minimizing the depressing view. Sheppard reclaimed a ray of hope, wished he'd held his tongue with a friend.

As he went back to work, he decided to expand on the crutch idea to help McKay. He called Lumi from the Jumper. Great builders that they were, Lumi-fog didn't bat a fake eyelid, just sent out a third of its numbers to procure suitable materials.

**...2...**

McKay touched his face, felt cooler. Sheppard had brought him a gift: Crude crutches fashioned from roots gleaned near the surface by the nanites, tied with rags, padded with same on top. He encouraged Rodney to try them but McKay had been sleeping and was groggy, said he'd try later. Unsatisfied with this, Sheppard attempted to jog him out of bed, shaking his leg and ordering him to make an effort.

McKay became irritated. "Leave me alone."

"This is important, McKay. You need to get some exercise, build up your strength."

"You don't know what I went through."

"And it's easy for me? Let me tell you something. I know what you will go through if you don't push yourself."

"Major, we're starving."

"The water's gonna' keep us alive for way too long. End will still be the same. You're only going to get weaker."

"I feel weak already."

Sheppard raised his voice. "That's because you need to move." He gripped McKay's arm and pulled until the mat beneath him began to slide out.

"Let me go," said McKay, clutching the platform's edge. "I told you, I can't."

He released him. "When I get back, I want to see you up and around and headed for the Jumper."

McKay watched him go, then grumbled privately. John was out of line, scolding him to do the impossible. There wasn't a fully healthy bone in his body and merely flipping to his side was a chore. And although Sheppard had reported him dead, Gage lived on in Rodney's mind, holding him in a powerful vise.

After calming down, he sat up, sliding his legs over the edge. He grabbed a crutch, stepped off and claimed the other. The crutches functioned adequately, were somewhat unequal. One foot at a time, he took baby steps in the room, sensing the circulation travel from hips to calves, the skin sensitive and warm, almost to his toes. Surprised, he found he did have a little gumption left in the hardy McKay genes. It was easier to maneuver than he'd predicted. Sheppard had built sturdy crutches.

He hobbled out to check the hallway. The need to see Gage was inescapable. Right or left? Right led toward the Jumper, left to Chamber One-Three-Six. Going back in, he engaged a few turns then sat, eyes welled up. Because it hurt, too, pain concentrated at mid-back and shooting around into his legs. It came on in waves, reminding him how tough it was going to be getting out of these depths in one piece.

He put the crutches aside and lay down, let the pain subside and started to think, obsess. It was tempting. It bothered him, nagged, occupied his thoughts more than food, eased the boredom and distracted him from his trials as well. He couldn't let go of the picture and the picture was seared in his head as if he'd actually seen it. Gage in the wall. What did he look like? Was he completely entombed? Could he be seen through the wall? Had he been crushed or suffocated? Did he scream? Did he beg?

You're dead, you're dead; Sheppard said so. Forget it.

It wouldn't be as strenuous to get down to One-Three-Six as it had been coming up, now that he was stronger. He estimated his legs were seventy percent recovered. If he practiced with the crutches, walked in the room regularly, maybe the pain would lesson. In addition, the gunshot holes had closed, tender and less swollen, the front better than the back. He'd had a protein bar, Sheppard another. They believed they would uncover spare food in the Jumper; John knew where to search. Things would be turning in their favor. No harm in it.

**...3...**

Three MRE's and a flashlight. Two of the meals were from McKay's secret, personal stash which everyone knew about. Were there more? Sheppard dug about with bare hands, peeling and red after shoveling nuggets of jagged rock. One marvelous gain: the nanites had stabilized the Jumper and he boarded it without fear it would list dangerously. He'd also discovered their transmitters and a sidearm. What he wouldn't have given to have had a second weapon against Gage. Of course, considering the fate of the other gun, maybe not.

He and the nanites continued to pick out the rubble until it was clean except for a thin layer on the floor. The tiny miners were incredibly facile in detail work and the console was dirt free. The inside of the device no doubt likewise. After that, Lumi-fog and his companions disappeared for another refuel, leaving the outer damage repair incomplete.

Sheppard took the pilot's seat and attempted to activate the VR display. It wasn't responding. After a few tries, he apologized to McKay in absentia, tore open an MRE, and ate.

**...4...**

Rodney practiced, motivated by anxiety, clumping around the room and into the hallway until he couldn't stand it anymore. He'd rest while the discomfort passed, then do it all over again. After a couple of days, never seeing Sheppard, he made a choice, driven to believe he was prepared, that he had to do it.

Choosing left, McKay entered the tunnel, realized he wasn't completely comfortable about the direction. Just "down" didn't cut it. Nevertheless, he kept going, figuring it out as he went along. He had memorized the way to the first chamber they'd been in, and it was a logical variation to get to One-Three-Six, a reversal of turns, always descending. He reached a stairwell and entered. This was trickier than the rampways.

On the wide top step, the tips of the crutches touched down and he steadied himself, lowered his legs, shifting one after the other. The pain had stabilized and he ignored the soreness in his armpits, determined to reach the chamber. Two-thirds of the way down, his legs gave out under him. He stumbled, a crutch slipped and he tripped over it. Tumbling, he hit the landing hugging his middle and cursing.

"McKay!" Sheppard called from upstairs. He rushed down. "Jumper's the other way in case you haven't noticed," he said, beside him. "You could've been killed."

"Oh, shit, that hurt." He rolled side to side. "Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt. Just when I was feeling better."

"You all right?"

"Don't call Lumi," McKay said. "I can handle it."

"I wasn't planning on it." he said, gathering up the crutches. "Funny, Lumi said you had minimal brain damage." He leaned them against the wall. "Or you wouldn't do such a stupid thing with your poor old weakened body."

"Ha ha. Don't be fooled by my fortitude." Rodney felt his head for blood. "The pain's nipping at my heels."

Sheppard offered him a lift. "Come on."

Once up, Rodney adjusted each crutch under his arms. "Good. Wonderful. Ready," he said, and clumsily descended to the next step.

"Hold a sec. It's this way." Sheppard pointed up. "Why don't you trust me?"

"Attention all beaten castaways," McKay said. "Not the issue here." He limped on, focused on avoiding a second fall. "I've got very little problem trusting you even when you're obviously at the end of your rope."

"I'm gonna' have you on a rope if you don't get back here."

McKay kept going.

Sheppard followed. "You pissed? 'Cause I lost my cool?"

He stopped and turned. "I'm furious," he said. "But not at you. Gage had no right to do what he did to me." He continued down. "It's not about trust."

"It is to me." Sheppard blocked him and Rodney teetered on the step above. "I told you he's dead. I told you that chamber's demolished, I told you there's no way he could've come back to life nanobots or no."

McKay looked up, then into Sheppard's face "I want to see. I need to."

"Yeah, sure. Look at you. Still draggin' your bones around like sandbags. We have to get out of here. Good news. I found us MRE's, I was thinking you'd want one."

"Food?"

"Food," Sheppard said. "I'll let you have first choice."

"Which one? The Chicken Tetrazzini?"

"Turkey."

"Uh, heaven," he said, famished. He resisted, stepping on. "After I see. I've waited this long."

"Mashed potatoes, gravy," Sheppard recited.

McKay's mouth was watering.

"Get back here." Sheppard hurried down, hand to Rodney's chest. "The Jumper's swept up. The outside damage is almost repaired. But I can't bring up the VR. Something's wrong."

"Must be the interface, or a power problem, something simple, computer off-line, 'course I'll have to run it all through there's no telling..." He pushed forward. "No, I can't. When I see Gage. It won't take long."

Sheppard let out a groan. "Don't you want to get off this planet?"

"Directly. After lunch," he said, negotiating another shallow step. This time, exhausted, he collapsed, crutches hung loosely by his sides.

"What's the matter?" asked John, sitting next to him. "Are you sick?"

He was out of breath. "You wanted me to get some exercise, didn't you?"

Sheppard ran his hands over the sides of his head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"One last favor," said McKay. "Please."

**...5...**

At the far end of the tunnel outside Chamber One-Three-Six, McKay parked his crutches. The passage was littered with manmade debris and Sheppard led him through, toiling over rocks, using larger ones for support. The doorway was partially obscured but they could see into the room over the rubble.

"We can't go in there," Sheppard said. He shone his flashlight, searching the mess for Gage's final resting-place. "Too dangerous."

"I'm going in." McKay planted himself on a sturdy stone and picked up his leg, hauling it manually over the boulder. The trek there had sapped what little stamina he had left. "Will you give me hand?"

Sheppard was incredulous. "Be careful," he said, lifting McKay's other leg. "Me first."

The room was no longer well lit; a portion of the nanolight had disappeared. Sheppard pushed rubble aside to get by, got McKay over larger chunks. One beam had survived and two walls were cracked, basically upright, with the residual of the roof and a second beam tenuously holding. A third of the way in, Sheppard insisted they go no farther for safety's sake. He peeked through a space formed amongst splintered cross-supports and a mass of accumulated debris. "There," he said, aiming the flashlight.

McKay said, "I don't see anything."

Sheppard bumped the flashlight twice with his fist and it brightened. He aimed it again. A pasty hand protruded from the wall. "See?"

"I don't see anything."

"I thought you said you got your sight all back," Sheppard said, eager to get out.

"I did. I'm telling you, I don't see..." McKay placed his chin into the space. "Oh hell. That's him?"

"Hell it is," said Sheppard. "All that's left. Let's hit it."

McKay grabbed the flashlight, shone it for himself, mesmerized. He'd never forget this place. The light beam began to fade.

A rash of rocks showered them and John shook them from his hair. "We're out. Now." He reclaimed the flashlight, secured McKay's arm and they stumbled out.

**...6...**

Using a rope, Sheppard lowered Rodney into the ravine.

"Watch it," McKay shouted, getting near the bottom. "I'm not a cat toy." His legs wouldn't work as directed, occasionally having a mind of their own, unwieldy upon touching ground. Sitting, he took off the rope and waited for Sheppard to descend. The terrain was too craggy for crutches and he'd have to rely on John to shuffle him over and into the Jumper, to the console.

He felt energized. The turkey had been a thousand times more delicious than a Thanksgiving bird. But he'd eaten it fast and it'd given him a stomachache afterwards. It was worth it, because the ache hadn't lasted any longer than the turkey. Sheppard had apologized for not getting it to him sooner, saying that a weird thing happened when he was attempting to climb out of the ravine: he'd passed out, too drained to go up until the meal he'd just eaten kicked in and he'd rested. He also confessed he had had first choice of MRE's. McKay forgave him.

They had limited power in the Jumper and McKay ran a diagnostic on the system while watching Sheppard and the violet spray through the windshield. With a PDA, John prepared the logistics for flying out. In order to break the surface, they would have to hover and engage their weapons. McKay anticipated a pliable rock crust...a fact unconfirmed until they could get their sensors back online. Also, in the process of breaking out, they didn't want to bring the bad 'bots upon the nanites.

The Jumper jiggled. McKay and Sheppard exchanged glances through the window. The underground would probably continue to be unstable, despite the efforts of the Lumi and its cohorts to shore it up. Sheppard had filled him in on the Architect and the nanites, their pre-programmed purpose to build. That, coupled with their need to mine for fuel had created a geological predicament. Sheppard said he'd taken charge, told them to cease, to discover alternative fuel layers to mine. McKay reasoned that was why so few nanites were around lately. In any case, questions about the Architect would be left unanswered.

Sheppard boarded the Jumper, to the co-pilot's seat. "Any luck?"

"I'd like to say yes. We'll have to wait until the exterior is complete," McKay said. "Blast our way out?"

"Yeah, unless Lumi can come up with an alternate plan." Sheppard pressed a few keys on the interface. "I can hardly wait to see the sun again, any sun, even this one."

"You won't be so happy if we don't reach orbit."

Sheppard tapped a few keys. "Not much longer, they're almost done."

A violet spray entered and formed into its human visage.

McKay compared Lumi to Sheppard, looking back and forth between the two. "It's spooky," he told Sheppard. "If you weren't in desperate need of a shower, I could never tell you two apart."

"Thanks." Sheppard conversed with his twin for the tenth time: "Got good news?"

"Sheppard," Lumi said. "Stay."

"I can't. I'm no use to you. I'm not an engineer."

"The Architect has expired."

"He has?" McKay said. "You...you stopped the repairs?"

"Yes. Sheppard would take his place."

"Listen," Sheppard said. "I'm flattered, but this isn't my home, I have a duty to complete, like you. This place isn't good for human beings, below or above ground. What about McKay?"

"He may stay also."

"How gracious of you," McKay added. "Splendid."

"Can't," Sheppard said. "I have to get him home."

"We can create a diversion, so that he may leave."

Sheppard agreed. "Now you're talking. A diversion is a good idea."

"Then you will remain here?"

"No, I have to do the driving. McKay's not up to it. This I will do, like I promised, I'll try and get an engineer to you. We can't live here, we'd die without supplies. Even the Architect had supplies."

McKay tried getting up, his legs were uncooperative. He plopped back into the seat. "What kind of diversion?"

"A simple scheme," said Lumi. "To exit the dayhole and draw the nanobots from your escape."

"We have cloaking capabilities, a diversion isn't necessary," McKay said.

"Nevertheless, to prevent invasion as you depart, I will do so."

McKay heard a beep and swiveled to the console. "Oops, things are happening here." The boards were lighting up. With help, he switched to the co-pilot's seat while Sheppard claimed the pilot's con. The VR materialized. They were back in business. They fired up the Jumper for a pretest, let it hover a few minutes, deployed and retracted the drive pods, checked the drone missiles and cloaking systems for readiness. While they were off the ground, another quake jolted the cavern, rocks thumping the exterior.

"No time like the present," Sheppard said. He addressed Lumi: "We're good to go. Start your diversion." The fog streamed out and Sheppard secured the hatch. "Ready?"

McKay locked the seat restraints. "If I say no you'll be insulted so I'll leave it at bon voyage...to us."

The Jumper shuttered and rose higher. A boulder dashed past the windshield. Sheppard ascended as far as possible and hovered, cloaked, then powered up the drones.

"What's our interval?" McKay said.

"Lumi and company, two minutes, give or take a few. Us, almost none." Sheppard's final estimate was for the interval between the drone's penetration of the surface and the Jumper's roaring through the hole it left behind.

"A cinch."

"For me. We'll try and seal it up after we're clear," Sheppard said, approaching the surface. "We're close as I dare. Prepare for permanent...later temporary...departure."

McKay clutched the armrests and steeled his nerves. "Our cloaking may be vulnerable to the nanobot sensors. We should've run a test with Lumi."

Sheppard dispatched a drone from the starboard pod. "Too late."

Via the view port, McKay tracked it, readied his stomach. Although many meters away, the shock vibrated throughout the Jumper as it pulverized the rock layer. Sheppard stalled, waiting to see a shard of sky before he retracted the pods for a smoother fit and speeding toward it. McKay held his tongue reluctantly, let him concentrate.

Spearing the gap, Sheppard recoiled as strong sunlight spilled into his eyes. He hit the gas, then redeployed the pods for finer maneuverability. Once out far enough, he fired off another drone to seal the opening. The Jumper ascended into the stratosphere, crossing the mesosphere until they were in orbit.

McKay said, "Think they made it, kept the enemy out?"

"I don't know. They killed Gage to protect us. Maybe they learned to protect themselves." Sheppard headed toward the space gate. "Didn't get a chance to say good-bye."

McKay put on his ID transmitter. "Think they care?"

"Aren't you the one that gave it a name?" Sheppard asked. "Not the best name at that."

"Seemed appropriate to the situation."

"Sure," said Sheppard, accessing the gate code. "In its own way, I'd say Lumi cares." He trained the Jumper toward the gate ring and they slipped through without incident, one leap from Atlantis.

**...7...**

Back where they'd started, in the Jumper bay, the hatch was lowered and Sheppard handed McKay his crutches. Outside, Doctors Weir, Beckett, and a host of greeters stood waiting, astounded at their sudden arrival. You could positively predict their mouths would drop collectively at the sight of their dirt-streaked, scratched-up faces.

Their story was dealt out in bits and pieces. Both men were beat, desperate for a feast but Beckett immediately corralled them into the medbay after they'd had a shower. While Sheppard rested, McKay was put under the scanner. The doctor commented on the gunshot wound's scarring, saying it reminded him of microscopic latticework under magnification. Unusual, he said. The boys were not up to enlightening him on the details.

Beckett continued the scan, most concerned about the spinal cord damage. He discovered an interesting surprise that had him yelling for a biohazard unit. "You two are quarantined," he warned. "You've got a foreign substance in you, Rodney."

"Oh, bother," McKay mumbled, and he stretched from the table to examine the monitor beside him. The screen showed a section of his lumbar discs. They shone with tiny bright violet lights.

In the next bed, Sheppard sat up. "What is it?" Medbay staff moved quickly, shooing people away at the entries.

McKay laughed and lay back. "Stowaways."

Sheppard confirmed, leaning towards the screen. "Don't worry, doc. They're the good guys. As far as I know, they're not contagious. And pretty polite, too."

"Although," McKay said. "Their initial invasion into my brain was considerably alarming."

"True. It was a sight."

Beckett stared at the monitor. "So you say your paralysis isn't the result of an accident?"

"Right," Sheppard said. "The mean 'bots did that to him. Sort of their version of a surgical strike."

"Frightening," Beckett said. "And the gunshot wound?"

Sheppard and McKay answered together: "That was Gage."

"Bad guys, good guys." Beckett magnified the discs. "Why didn't these nanites stay home with the rest of their friends?"

"Good question," McKay said. "I didn't know they were there. I suppose they're still working on my spinal cord. My legs are improving, I know. Pain's tolerable."

The hazmat crew had arrived and Beckett signaled them to wait in the corridor. "What're we going to do with them? Considering, where do nanites go when their work is done?"

"From what I've seen, it's never done," Sheppard said, reclining. "I made them a promise. They need a project manager, someone to guide 'em."

McKay pulled up a leg, numb in the foot. "As soon as the doc paroles us, we'll talk to Weir, take these back." He shut his eyes. Sheppard curled up, threw a cover over his chest.

Beckett crossed his arms and studied each of them. "Well, if you two are all right with these creatures." He waved off the hazmat crew. "I'm not getting any dangerous readings. I suppose there's no harm."

"There's no threat," McKay said. "Now would you go annoy someone else so we can get some sleep? Have a snack ready when we wake up, will ya'?"

Beckett didn't seem to hear him. He was entranced by the violet lights. "Hope they don't decide they like it here better," he said. "They'll put me straight out of a job."

**The End**


End file.
